Mantorville, A True GEM

Monday, December 31, 2018

The year 2018 will come to an end in a few short hours. I, as many of you, will be up watching the ball drop in New York. I want to remind everyone if you are celebrating the new year tonight, do so responsibly and don't try to drive home if you had a few to many.

This last year the City was able to complete the Waste Water Treatment plant project, pave fifth street and keep our promise to keep our tax rate low. In 2019 we will finish the trail up fifth street, start new street projects and implement the new Safety Committee. I am looking forward to the new year and two more years of service to my community.

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

December 26 is celebrated in the UK and many common-wealth nations as Boxing day. This is a day that was established for everyone who had to work on December 25 to have a day off as well. I would like to extend a warm Boxing day greeting to our law enforcement, EMTs, fire department and all others who had to work yesterday.

Friday, December 21, 2018

The holiday season has brought us Apple Spice, Pumpkins, Pecan pie,ice skating, skiing and snowmobiling. Rejoice for finally the hun-drum days of summer have finally been put to rest. The time of year has come once again for us to all join in with the Dr. Seuss classic “The Grinch” and celebrate winter as the Who's did with a rendition of dah who dor-aze! And remember to “Welcome Christmas while we stand, Heart to Heart and Hand in Hand”. Lets get out there and enjoy the season, embrace the snow and once again remind ourselves of the beautiful environment in which we have choose to live. dah who dor aze everyone,dah who dor aze and Merry Christmas!

2018This past year has seen some surprisingly close elections including one local race that came down to a single vote and a recount effort. The election season even saw a local candidate forum that allowed the candidates for City Council and Mayor a venue to express their opinions. The country lost a former president and a long-term congressman. The City of Mantorville has prevailed in a law suit brought by a citizen and will continue to protect City Tax Dollars by aggressively defending our City. The City was able to work with AT&T and finally extend cell service to the residents of Mantorville and also add a new non-tax based revenue stream to the City's bottom line. The City was able to complete the Waste Water pipeline project and secure $1.8 Million in grand funding. I will detail many of these areas in greater detail in my annual “State of the City” article next month.

Merry ChristmasPlease remember to un-plug from work, spend time with friends and family and most importantly celebrate responsibly. Remember it is a lot less embarrassing to go back the next day to get a vehicle than it is to answer questions of why you choose to try and drive when you knew you shouldn't have. I am looking forward to spending time with Spencer, Sandra and Abby. I am also eagerly anticipating the turkey, plum pudding and eggnog. The city staff along with myself would like to extend a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and a safe and prosperous new year to all of our residents.

Yours in service,

Chuck BradfordMayor - City of MantorvilleMantorvilleMayor@Gmail.ComMayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

Many of my regular readers are familiar with my annual “ode to winter” article. Typically in the late fall around the first sprinkle of snow I write an opening for my article about how wonderful the Winter season is. I have over-looked this tradition this year and I wanted to rectify that before the end of the year. First why do I do this? The world today allows us to select the area we live in and find career options in that area. We are in Minnesota not because we are trapped as our former president had said but because we choose to live in the mid-west. We live not in spite of the weather and constant change but because of it. We, as Minnesotans, understand that if we are unhappy about cold weather we will spend most of our lives unhappy. If, however, we choose to rejoice in the change of the seasons and embrace the cold we understand that life will be much better. A former Governor of the State of Minnesota started winter fest in St. Paul in response to another Governor's remarks that it is too cold in the Winter to live in Minnesota. We don't hide from the cold we go out and enjoy it with our snowmobiles, cross-country skis, down hill skis, ice skating, snow angles, snow forts, sledding and so much more. We all like to “complain” about how harsh our weather is, but lets face it, we love it!

The season has brought us Apple Spice, Pumpkins, Pecan pie, the holidays, skiing and snowmobiling. Rejoice for finally the hun-drum days of summer have finally been put to rest. The time of year has come once again for us to all join in with the Dr. Seuss classic “The Grinch” and celebrate winter as the Who's did with a rendition of dah who dor-aze! And remember to “Welcome Christmas while we stand, Heart to Heart and Hand in Hand”. Lets get out there and enjoy the season, embrace the snow and once again remind ourselves of the beautiful environment in which we have choose to live. dah who dor aze everyone,dah who dor aze!

Monday, December 17, 2018

In the recent lawsuit filed against the City by the Potters, the court had previously dismissed a majority of the case including the individual complaints again the City Council members individually. The City received word last week that on December 6, the court issued a favorable summary judgement for the city resolving all the outstanding issues in the case. The court agreed with the City that there was no evidence presented to find for the plaintiff. This is good news for both the City of Mantorville as well as the Tax Payers of the City.

Christmas is quickly approaching and as many of us are planning to bell ring for the salvation army, volunteer at shelters or help out in our community one area of giving often goes over-looked. This holiday season you can literally save a life by donating blood. Donated blood unfortunately does have a shelf life and the Holiday season see a dramatic rise in the need of all blood types. Pleases consider adding this gift of life to your holiday tradition, the life you save may be a loved one.

Thursday, December 13, 2018

The City Council meet for the last time
for 2018 last Monday December 10. While many of us were watching the
Vikings miserable attempt to play football, the City Council voted to
reduce our tax rate to 57%. The Council also heard from a local
insurance agent and passed many needed resolutions to allow the City
to function until the next council is sworn in during our first
January meeting.

The ice rink has been flooded and is
ready to use. The City always floods part of the parking lot to make
a safe skating rink, and this year we added some blue color to the
frozen water to “add to the experience”. You can see just how blue the ice is in the picture on my blog at http://mayorbradford.blogspot.com

The City of Mantorville is looking at
additional security around town with our City owner assets. The City
is evaluating recording devices and enhanced alarm systems. These
systems will be used to protect City owner building and equipment
and may also be deployed to some of our parks.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Many of you asked about our Polish
adoption during the campaign season. Sandra is doing great! One of
the traditions we brought home is celebrating St. Nickolas day.
December 6th is celebrated in Poland as the birthday of
St. Nicholas of Myra (circa 280 ). The traditional birthday of St.
Nick is celebrated by giving one small gift to the children to open
when they wake up. We made arrangements for Nickoli to visit us in
America, and he did not forget this year. Happy St. Nickoli Day
everyone!

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Last Friday night around 10:00pm the
41st President of the United States passed away. George
H.W. Bush was surrounded by his family during his last moments.
President Bush was 94 when his life ended. George Bush served his
country in several ways. He served as our Vice President during the
Reagan administration. He was a fighter pilot during the Vietnam
conflict. President Bush served as the Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency. The GeorgeBush.Com web site has a great quote
that summaries his life well. “Any definition of a successful
life must include service to others.”
This value he instilled in his sons George W Bush and Jeb Bush both
who went on to have extensive public service careers of their own. A
second true hallmark of the Bush family is their strong sense of
family, duty to country and respect for all peoples. The City's flags
were lowered on Saturday to honor the passing of our 41st
president. Remember to keep Pauline and George W. in your prays this
week.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

The deadline for filing an application for a position on the newly Formed Safety Committee is approaching. Please get those applications into City Hall before Christmas. The Safety Committee will examine safety issues including traffic speed, research data based solutions to those problems and make recommendations back to the City Council. This is your opportunity to help shape safety concerns within our community and help out the City Council. Please consider serving on this committee and get those applications in to the City Clerk.

The Mantorville City Council has an appointed committee responsible for reviewing the performance of each of our City staff. The Committee accepts input from the public for feedback for any of our City staff positions. Please send input to myself or Henry Blair by the middle of December.

The Mantorville Opera House which is maintained by the Mantorville Restoration Association turned 100 years old this year. The Opera House is home to the Mantorville Theater Company. The Mantorville Theater Company has been holding plays and melodramas in this historic building for over forty four years. Happy Birthday Opera House, and here is to another century.